Mise-en-scene: Dracula Vs. Frankenstein (1971)

Dracula Vs Frankenstein was first released in 1971. Horror films in the 1970s generally reflected the grim feel of the decade as little happened in the 70s. The films addressed contempory issues and physiological fears. Dracula Vs Frankenstein deals with the idea of new things being developed, such as Frankenstein’s monster, because of the new technology being rapidly developed. Because of this new technology people would believe things such as monsters and vampires. This led to the creation of many films such as Dracula Vs Frankenstein.

The opening scene of the film starts out with a close up of the sign upon the gate of a cemetery. This close up enables the audience to be aware of where the scene is set and has a rough idea of what to expect. The camera focuses on the sign that says ‘Oak moor Cemetery’ which is in gold and in very gothic writing. This denotes to the audience that it is clearly a cemetery but the gothic writing makes it feel scary and gives the audience a sense of fear as they associate things such as gothic writing with fear. The gold is also a huge contrast to the black background of the sign. Showing the brightness and innocence of what will be the victim and the darkness of in this case the vampire. The diegetic sound is of the wind howling, this is a typical characteristics of a dark and spooky night. This tells the audience that it is night time and even though the wind is a harmless sound it brings chills to the audience and makes them question the safety of the characters.
The camera then changes to a close up of a full moon. This denotes that it is night time which makes the audience think about the scary things that could happen in the night. The camera then zooms out to reveal the pitched black midnight sky with the full moon. This highlights the sense of mystery and the fact that the audience is still completely unaware of what is going to happen. This contrast between the bright moon and dark sky could connote the contrast between good and bad. It could also give the idea that the good is less powerful and small compared to the bad which is so huge in comparison to the good. The sounds are being built up so the audience has a greater feeling of the tension that is being built up. The cricket sounds give the sense that there is something alive out there, which makes the audience intrigued to find out what else is behind the darkness.

The camera then pans down from the sky a shot of the cemetery in complete darkness. This shows that it is dark outside which really adds to the scariness and highlights the lack of knowledge as to what is in the darkness. There is a dog barking again adding to the tension which is already being built up by the different layers of sound. The camera continues to pan revealing the gates and shows glimpses of several headstones. The director Al Adamson would have thought about these features very carefully. The gates could connote to the audience that whatever is behind these gates is so evil that it has to be locked away behind gates and is not allowed out. The glimpses of the headstones remind the audience that it is a cemetery where scary movies are usually set as there is a common thought that cemetery’s contain the ghosts of those buried there. This just helps to make the audience feel fear and on edge as to what could happen. The fact that only small amounts of the headstones are shown and not the whole thing, this means that the audience isn’t viewing the whole thing they are only seeing small parts of the headstone, this could be a hint to the audience that what they see may not be all there is to know and understand. The camera continues to pan in this wide angle of the cemetery for fourteen seconds before anything else is shown. This adds to the suspense within the audience as to what they will find when the darkness finally breaks.

Once the camera has finished panning across the cemetery there is a long shot of a dark figure moving something. The figure is very dark with only a few parts of their body being shown through lighting. The lighting is very dark to show the sinister mood about the scene and to make the whole event seem very mysterious. The idea of everything being very mysterious is carried on by the fact very little of the character whom has appeared can be seen. In contrast to the dark background there is a very light shape which is being moved by the figure. The huge contrast between the light and dark could connote to the audience the difference between good and bad. Because the light colour of the shape, which is being moved, is so different to the darkness of everything surrounding it, it highlights this and draws the attention of the audience directly to this. The diegetic sound is slowly being built up further with the sound of the ground underneath the characters feet. This again builds the tension for the audience who are now very curious as to what is happening.

As the character continues to remove what the audience can now see is a lid, of what appears to be coffin the camera tracks along with the character. By removing the lid in the way that the character does it gives the audience the impression that what is inside the coffin needs to treated carefully and it could prove to be a very big shock to what the audience may expect to be revealed. The diegetic sound is still the same as it has been throughout the scene. It is building the tension so greatly that it is drawing the audience in and making them want to know so desperately what is going to happen.

The camera keeps tracking round the cemetery and zooms in on the figure. The shot is now a mid-shot showing more of the figure. By this shot being a mid-shot it gives the audience a better insight of who this mysterious figure is. However it still keeps the audience on the edge of their seats as they cannot see this characters face and are consequently completely unaware of what this character can really do. The audience can now see that the figure is wearing a black cape which is lined with bright red material inside. Because the typical stereotype of a vampire is to have a black and red cape. The bright red could symbolise the blood in which is extracted from the protagonists. The audience can see that the bright red is a very bold colour compared to the darkness which connotes that this character is very powerful and has a lot of control over his victims. The sound that accompanies this section of the scene is the final sliding of the lid coming off the coffin. This is a chilling sound which is very loud to shock the audience and really scare them before they see what is inside the coffin.

As soon as the lid has been fully taken off, the camera quickly changes to a close up of Frankenstein. By changing to this shot so quickly it keeps the audience on the edge and really makes them feel that something dreadful could happen at any time as the shots are so jumpy. By having a close up the audience can see every detail of this ‘monster’ which could scare them as it is such a sudden change and in such detail. The close up is of an old and crusty ‘monster’ which the audience later finds out is Frankenstein. Al Adamson the director has included this to let the audience know that the fact that Frankenstein is in a coffin and crusty must mean that he has been dead for a very long time and has been untouched. This if effect makes it very unusual and the audience is wondering what the character wants with this other character that has now been introduced into the scene. Frankenstein is a very different colour in contrast to the other character and its surroundings which really highlights and focuses on the difference between the two characters. The audience becomes aware of the difference but questions what each character has to do with the other. The wind is still howling and the tension is greatly built up at this point within the scene.

Again the camera quickly changes to a wide shot of the full moon shining in the sky. This creates a sense of frustration to the audience as they are completely unaware of what has just happened to the ‘monster’. By doing this the director has managed to ensure that the audience is completely hooked and will continue to watch the film so that they find out how all of these events link together. By removing parts of the story the audience is desperate to know what is happening and really ensures that they follow the story fully. The camera then immediately turns to a mid-shot of the cemetery again, however this time nothing is there. The mid-shot enables the audience to see the majority of the cemetery, however not all of it which makes the question what else could be there. Because of the excitement of the discovery of what is in the coffin the audience is eager to find out what is going on. The wall and headstones are all very gothic which denotes that it is a traditional cemetery but connotes to the audience that it is spooky and things that are not natural could occur as the gothic look is very stereotypical of things that will scare people. As this part of the scene goes on a small light appears in the background. It is very bright in contrast to the background which is a symbol of the goodness that comes with this light. The audience’s tension is being built up even more by the sound of footsteps which are getting increasingly louder. Suddenly the camera switches to a mid-shot of what appears to be a male character. Similar to the other characters only small parts of this male character are shown the make everything seems very mysterious and ensures that the audience is kept on the edge. This characters face is kept in the dark at first to ensure that they cannot be identified. Along with the neutral colours that the character is wearing this character appears very insignificant. However the fact that this character is wearing a hat and the smart clothing that they are wearing could indicate that they have some importance to this story. There is suddenly a dog barking, this diegetic sound is very unexpected and the audience is not prepared for it. This will make the audience feel uneasy as anything could happen. However this is all part of watching the film and making sure that they feel all of these different emotions, so that they get the maximum enjoyment out of the film. The face of this male character is revealed. The characters expression is very scared and uneasy as to what is going on. This reiterates to the audience that something scary is very likely to happen. It denotes to the audience that they are afraid of what could be there.

The camera then tracks the torch light being shone randomly around the cemetery. The darkness of everything and the small glimpse of light and good things connotes to the audience that through all the bad and darkness there is some good, be it small. The random things that can be seen from the torch light could give the audience the impression that the events of the film are very random yet they are all connected in some way. The items which are shown are random however they are connected in that they are all gravestones even though they are all very different.

The camera then turns back to the male character whose facial expression has an increased look of concern. This increases the concern of the audience as the person that they now believe to be good is concerned. The character cries out ‘who’s there’ again the audience can sense the caution in the characters voice and consequently feel uneasy. The characters voice is very shaky and the character sounds very unconfident due to the uncertainty of what it happening. This denotes that the character is afraid of the unknown and is concerned by the fact anything could happen. The camera reverts back to tracking the light from the torch showing the random parts of the cemetery again reiterating the randomness of this event. The camera again turns to the male character whose bright colours in contrast to the very dark background highlight his innocence and separates any connections between the good and bad. At this point there is a loud and very dramatic piece of extra diegetic sound, which brings the tension to a climax and ensures that the audience is totally aware of the suspense and dramatic event that is soon to take place.

The camera pans to the right, a glimpse of the red cape is shown and the extra-diegetic music is built up further. It is played in a minor key, with little rhythm to make it feel scary and dramatic whilst also highlighting the randomness of the events. This is the first time that the audience can actually see the face of this character, Count Dracula played by Roger Engel. The facial expression upon this characters face is very sinister this connotes to the audience that he could be about to do something evil. Dracula’s face is highlighted which draws the audience’s attention directly to it, they can see the expression upon his face and will be able to sense the fear and dread of what might happen next. The characters moustache and beard have been chosen by the director to give the character a classical stereotypical vampire look with a long, dark and droopy moustache in contrast to the very pale face. At first the shot it from underneath the character so their eyes appear to have no pupils. This appears very supernatural and will scare people. This could connote to the audience that this character is supernatural and all is not right. The camera zooms into a close up of the face of Dracula so that the audience can see and get a sense of how the character is feeling, because the audience has a greater knowledge of what the characters are feeling they too can feel the same way and with this comes a large amount of tension.

The camera then changes rapidly to a close up of the other male character within the scene. The expression upon this characters face is of utter dear and total shock. The audience really feels this with the added use of the extra diegetic sound which is still rapidly building up.

After returning back to a close up of Dracula the camera pans down the body of the vampire so that only the bold red stands out next to the darkness. This connotes to the audience that this character really does have a huge sense of power and a great deal of control over what is going to happen because of the block colour along with its boldness. As the vampire leaps over and encases the male character with his cape the contrast between the light colours of the male character and dark colour palette of the vampire is really clear and very much highlights the difference between the two characters. It makes a clear definition between the two characters and ensures the audience is aware between the two. After that point little can be seen this denotes to the audience that it is night time so little can be seen however it connotes that something very sinister could be occurring. The fact that the audience cannot see what is happening but the diegetic sound of the characters struggling and the extra diegetic sound which has reached a climax all add to the suspense and keep the audience on edge wondering what is happening. The camera again as before goes back to a wide shot of the full moon shining brightly in the sky. This reiterates that it is night time and little is around to help the male character as the audience now fears the worst because of the lack of knowledge of what has happened.

The camera pans down the ground to see Dracula on top of the male character whom are both lying on the floor. Immediately you are able to see the male characters hat as it stands out significantly against the dark floor. The audience is drawn to that straight away which connotes that something is not right. The audience is able to sense that something has happened from the extra-diegetic sound which by now has reached its climax but is very spontaneous with little rhythm. This makes it seem very sinister and helps make the audience feel uneasy and unsure as to what is going on. As Dracula removes himself from what is now a corpse, the camera is left with mid-shot of the lifeless male character lying on the floor. This mid-shot is enough to make the audience aware of what has happened. It also could connote that only part of the body is being shown meaning that possibly something else has happened. The camera zooms in onto the neck of the male character revealing two tooth marks which are oozing blood. The audience is automatically aware of what has happened by this close up. Because the camera showed the audience in detail what has happened they are fully aware of what is going on. The lighting is now very bright compared to the dull colour palette that the audience experienced before. This really highlights to the audience the innocence of this character and ensures that they are aware that this was good against bad and the innocence of the good has shone through, unfortunately at the wrong time. The extra-diegetic makes a final accent to make a dramatic ending to the opening scene and bring out the drama in the event which has just occurred. It helps the audience feel the tension and makes them feel unsure of what to expect next as the opening scene has proved anything can happen.